Photo credit: Eliot Kamenitz
UNIVERSAL HEART CHORDS: A CONVERSATION
Exploring the musical world of paintings by Frederick J. Brown
In this panel discussion Bentley Brown, Maya Taylor, and Tim Francis will consider the significance of jazz at a spatial device within Frederick J. Brown’s body of work. The discussion will explore what “the studio” meant for Frederick Brown, and the importance of space-making and community within the artist’s practice. Together, Brown, Taylor, and Francis will examine how these tools helped to bring to life “the spirit” of Frederick Brown’s portraits.
The discussion will be moderated by David Kunian, Music Curator at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
The talk with take place inside the 3rd Floor Performance Venue
Bentley Brown is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and doctoral candidate at The Institute of Fine Arts, NYU and is based in the Bronx, NY and Phoenix, AZ. His research at the Institute explores the pioneering role of Black artists and Black creative spaces within New York City’s contemporary art movements of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s. In his artistic practice, inspired by African American cultural production, abstract and figurative expressionist approaches to the artistic process and the desert landscape of his native Phoenix, Brown uses the mediums of canvas, found objects, photo-collage and film to to explore themes of Black identity, cosmology, and American interculturalism.
Maya Taylor is an MTV VMA nominated choreographer and movement director working in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and NYC. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she began her dance training at a very young age and shortly moved to NYC to pursue her love of dance at the prestigious Ailey School. After dancing professionally for many years, Maya began to create her distinct blend of movement that has skyrocketed her choreography career throughout film, television, fashion, and stage performance. Maya’s choreography has made significant contributions to the incredible visions of Rosalía for the 2022 Latin Grammys, Solange Knowles, Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, and St. Vincent. Her other credits include movement direction and choreography for Calvin Klein, Burberry, MAC Cosmetics, Kérastase, Rémy Martin, Ivy Park, Nordstrom Rack, KREWE, and Collina Strada. Some of her film and tv credits include NETFLIX’s Tall Girl 2, The Dirt, TNT’s CLAWS, and HULU’s Looking for Alaska. Maya has been named as one of DANCE Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2020 and has been nominated for a 2021 World Choreography Award for her work with MAC Cosmetics.
Tim Francis is a New Orleans based attorney and art collector as well as a personal friend of Frederick J. Brown. He received his B.A. degree from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1980, and his J.D. degree from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1984. Francis was involved with a number of civic organizations and social causes. He worked closely with Stevie Wonder and the United Nations in an effort to pass a global treaty to help the visually impaired gain affordable access to braille and electronic information. Francis also played an integral role in Xavier University of Louisiana’s decision to become the first historically black college in the country to open a Confucius Institute. He also served as a board member for Tulane University, The Norman C. Francis Leadership Institute, The Louise McGehee School, and The New Orleans Sugar Bowl.